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Energized by an endorphin releasing post-midnight workout,Rabbi Bechhofer begins this episode all guns firing, against the lawsuit filed in Federal Court against New York's Governor,Andrew Cuomo.The suit was brought by the Association of Jewish Camp Operators and demanded \u201cdeclaratory and injunctive relief from constitutional deprivations,\u201d after the state had announced a ban on sleepaway camps this summer because of the coronavirus pandemic.The language of the complaint,pennedby AJCO's legal counsel Avi Schick,(son of the noted Askan Marvin Schick Z''l) reads in part \u201cfor more than one hundred years, Jewish overnight camps have provided an immersive, seamless Jewish experience to their campers whose parents choose Jewish camping for their children. Every summer, tens of thousands of Jewish children in New York State benefit from the 24/7 immersive camp experience which offers them the opportunity to not only observe their religious practices but to live them. Jewish overnight camps foster a sense of cultural identity and instill traditional religious values in Jewish children. In Jewish overnight camps, they jointly recite prayers three times a day. Part of every day is devoted to religious study. They recite blessings over the food they eat throughout the day. They observe the weekly Shabbos. They learn about Jewish history, Jewish customs and Jewish heroes....the need for Jewish overnight camps is particularly true this summer, after several months of shutdowns of the yeshiva schools, to provide for the structured Jewish learning and living offered by the Jewish overnight camps....."Bechhofer discounts the argument,claiming that advancements in creative school programming since the 1960's and 70's,the expansion of Orthodox Jewish life into sylvan suburban areas,and the tendency of many Yeshiva schools to offer instruction into the late summer have bolstered the total educational picture for the majority of youngsters. He considers the lawsuit's claim to be a gross exaggeration.to say the least.Bechhofer's wrath is particularly stoked by this section of the camp owner's argument,"...On June 12, 2020, Defendant announced that overnight camps would be closed for the summer of 2020 under his COVID-19 orders, without making any exceptions for Jewish overnight camps, notwithstanding that these overnight camps involve core religious exercise...In contrast, Defendant has made a broad First Amendment exception from his COVID-19 orders for First Amendment activities that he favors.... In particular, Defendant has created a de facto exemption from his COVID-19 orders for mass demonstrations, explicitly proclaiming agreement with the message invoked by the protestors and actively encouraging the mass gatherings. Defendant has done so even though these mass protests pose greater risks of the transmission of COVID-19 than do Jewish overnight camps.Here Bechhofer stridently pronounces this argument to be a "Chilul Hashem" at the greatest levels. The equating of the public's justified disgust with police brutality and its subsequent organic reaction, with the greedy desires of Jewish businessmen is vile and feeds into the worst anti-Semitic stereotypes.Bechhofer asserts that the groundswell of this relentless push to defy the health authorities who are sincerely trying to guide us through the Covid-19 nightmare,has reached a nadir with the Yated Neman's publishing of this poem and repulsive caricature which depicts the governor pressing his knee into the neck of an anguished small child whose word balloon reads "I can't breathe".Bechhofer applauds the open criticism the Yated's move engendered,singling out the opinion essay of frequent Agudah mouthpeice Rabbi Avi Shafran.[On June 28th-The Yated Ne'eman's officialtwitter feed-posted a note saying that the cartoon and poem accidentally was published,and does not meet the standards of the paper.]Kivelevitz questions the Chilul Hashem aspect and objects to the lawsuit as expending Jewish political interest for a cause that isn't crucial when the big picture is considered.There are sure to be situations in the future when our community will need to marshal accumulated "protectzia" that this move will seriously deplete.With his co-host fully animated with animus,Kivelevitz ,attempts to engage Bechhofer in seeing an aspect of the law suit that has merit....Defendant also has allowed a wide array of similar, secular activities to remain open, such as numerous \u201cnon-essential\u201d businesses and entities, child care services for \u201cessential\u201d workers, summer day camps, and special education services, provided that such entities follow health-related guidelines issued by the New York Department of Health to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.Unlike all of those entities, Defendant has not allowed Jewish overnight camps to adopt and implement health-related guidelines that would permit them to operate while balancing the twin goals of health and safety ...."and while Kivelevitz finds it regretful that the plaintiffs chose such an aggressive legal recourse,believes it prudent to read the interview published by Hamodia where Avi Schick responds to the fair questions posed to him.Please leave us a review atravkiv@gmail.comFor more information on this podcastvisityeshivaofnewark.jewishpodcasts.org See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. 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